Week of December 5 - 9

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! The kindergarteners are so excited for the Christmas season! We have been busy in the classroom with many different activities. The boys and girls have been working on a gingerbread unit, and have been learning about a new word family,  the "-an family". The students have been journal writing and figuring out different ways in which they would catch the ever elusive gingerbread man!

One very important even this week was the kindergarten attended their very first school mass on Thursday for Holy Day of Obligation. The boys and girls were so well behaved, and received many compliments from various members of the STM faculty. Ms. Haas, Mrs. Costello, and I were so proud of them. The students have also been practicing for their performance in the Christmas Program this upcoming Tuesday. Their song is really coming together, and they are all so enthusiastic during practices. The kindergarteners are looking forward to performing in front of their families!

Reminder: The performance is at 6:30 on Tuesday, December 13. Please bring your child to the classroom at 6:00 pm. Since the kindergarteners are singing, "An Angel Came from Heaven", they will be portraying angels. So, it would be great if they could wear light colored attire.

We hope you have a wonderful weekend! Stay warm!

Thank you for all that you do!

Week of November 28 - December 2

Happy December! We hope everyone had a wonderful (and restful) Thanksgiving break.  The year is really flying by!  The boys and girls have been very busy in the classroom this week, and are already looking forward to the next holiday coming up...Christmas!

In Language Arts, the students have been hard at work. The kindergarteners created their very own graphic organizers detailing important points in the story, Oh, What a Christmas. They have also been practicing new sight words, as well as words from the -at word family (cat, bat, rat, mat, etc.). The boys and girls started making some Christmas books, and sounded out some holiday vocabulary with sticker spelling!

In Math, the students have been working on writing and ordering numbers through ten. They even ordered numbers one to twenty-five and created Advent chains for the month of December to countdown until Christmas. You can tear the chain link for each day, and help your child read the scripture verse! 

The students have been learning about the nativity story in Religion, and made some mini books detailing the important events leading up to the birth of Jesus. This is perfect timing for the upcoming Christmas Program on the evening of December 13, "The Three Wise Men". The kindergarteners will be singing the song, "An Angel Came from Heaven". We have already started practicing the song in the classroom, and they are all so excited to be part of the show with the rest of the school!

It is truly an exciting time of year, and we are so happy to be sharing the joy with your children! Have a great weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have much to be thankful for: families, friends, health, shelter. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the Kindergarten families for their continued support both in and out of the classroom. Thank you for the little gestures that mean so much, supplies, and yard duty.

Thank you for all of your contributions to our Stone Soup. As you can see the children had a wonderful time peeling and slicing the vegetables and enjoyed the final product.

On Tuesday, we took the children across the street to the Church for the First Grade Thanksgiving Prayer Service. They were very well behaved and really enjoyed the Service.

December Scholastic Book Orders went home yesterday - as I mentioned, if any books are intended as Christmas presents, just send me an email and when the order arrives I will place them in sealed manila envelopes when sending them home.

We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

November 14-18, 2011

We had a very busy week - it all started with a visit from Olive the Storyteller! The children love listening to Olive's stories - ask your child to tell you which was his/her favorite. Last week the children were introduced to the High Frequency Word "the". This week, the children have been coming up to us and pointing out the word "the" in the books they are reading...perhaps you have noticed this as well?  "I" and "see" were introduced this week. An extra copy of the book came home to be read to you. Also, a copy of Stone Soup went home and we read and compared 2 different versions in class as well (one by Marcia Brown and one by Jon Muth). We will be making our own "Stone Soup" on Monday with the ingredients you send in - thanks for your participation. The children were very excited to learn that they will be chopping and measuring the ingredients in our brand new kitchen to which we had a formal dedication on Friday and celebrated with cookies and milk for the entire school!

We noticed this week that the children have been doing an excellent job writing their numbers.

We ended the week with a Thanksgiving art project to help decorate your home!

Apologies to those who came on Friday to hear the Kindergartners read their "Go Make A Difference" poster. Although it was scheduled to happen on Friday, Nov. 18th, it took place on Thursday the 17th. We've posted it up outside the classroom for you to take a look.

October 31 - November 4, 2011

Boo! The children had a frightfully fun Halloween at STM! The day was filled with Halloween activities such as cookie decorating, mummy making, paper plate monsters, trick-or-treat bags, candy bar covers and lollipop ghosts, spider and ghost hand prints. A big thanks to our Room Moms Melissa and Carol who organized all of these fun activities as well as the parents who volunteered at each center. Another big thanks to the Spiegel family for providing pizza for our potluck and to all of the families who sent in other goodies. There are a couple of bowls and trays left over - feel free to pop in and pick them up. The Kindergartners led the Costume Parade through the playground and across the street to Alma Via.

For Math this week we finished up Topic 2 this week with numbers 4 and 5, an intro to tallies, and our Topic Test. We began Unit 3 with More, Fewer, and Same As.

In Language Arts the children were introduced to Interactive Writing or "Sharing the Pen" where they dictate a sentence and the teacher writes it with some help with spelling from the children. Once we have a short paragraph, they come up and circle capital letters and end marks. Eventually they will be finding Sight Words.

We finished up our Apple Unit and got a taste of our Farm Animal Mini-Unit with the reading of 10 Red Apples by Pat Hutchins. One thing the children noticed about this book is that we were counting down from 10 instead of up like we usually do, much like a rocket launch. We also watched a video about Johnny Appleseed and discussed how he was a friend to the Earth and made a difference. This is tied into our School Theme this year "Go Make A Difference." You may have heard the children singing our theme song at Morning Assembly each week (Go Make A Difference by Steve Angrisano, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aopgV1o1Oo). On November 18th at the Morning Assembly, the Kindergartners will be presenting their poster to the school on how they make a difference. Mark your calendars and join us!

During Religion, the children made beautiful stained glass-like crosses that will be hanging on the windows - come and and take a look - they are gorgeous!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Remember to turn your clocks back Sunday morning. Next week is early release due to Parent/Teacher conferences. We look forward to meeting with you and discussing the progress of your child.

See you next week!

Week of October 24-28, 2011

Happy almost Halloween!  Ms. Haas and I have been administering assessments this past week, and the students have been hard at work on some spooky activities. The boys and girls created Halloween cats, worked on a pumpkin counting book, made paperclip mobiles, utilized their fine motor skills with pumpkin sewing, sang Halloween songs, and constructed their very own Halloween books with words and pictures.

The students have also really enjoyed their enrichment classes, as well. With Dance, Spanish, Music, P.E., and Library, the kindergarteners have really become very well rounded young scholars.  Their enrichment teachers have also commented how well behaved they are in class, which makes Ms. Haas and I very proud of them!

We are so excited for our Halloween festivities on Monday. It is going to be such a fun day for everyone. We would like to thank the parents who are volunteering to help, and bring in the items needed for the party. It will be awesome to see the kindergarteners all dressed up in their costumes!

Reminder: The Halloween Parade starts at 1:10pm on Monday, October 31st. Students may wear their costumes to school, but please leave any costume weapons at home.

Thank you, parents, for all you do! Hope you have a wonderful pre-Halloween weekend!!!

October 17-21

Halloween is in the air! The kindergarteners have been working hard this week. On Monday, Olive the storyteller visited and told us some wonderful Halloween stories. The boys and girls especially love saying the Five Little Pumpkins poem from this week. We also had a great time visiting the school wide bake sale. Thank you for bringing cookies to sell!

In Language Arts, the students tried their luck in a game of Pumpkin Boo. They took turns drawing letter cards out of a jack-o-lantern, and writing words that start with that letter. The kindergarteners also learned some interesting facts about bats this week. They each wrote their very own "bat fact" and decorated paper bats in the classroom. October is national "Apple Month", and the students took turns exploring the parts of the apple with Ms. Haas. They even tasted different types of apples, and compared them. The boys and girls are very excited about Halloween, and they took time discussing their costumes in their table groups. Then, they had a chance to draw and write what they were going to be. It was very fun to find out what costume each student will be wearing!

We have been practicing how to write our numbers in Math. The students have been making sure that their numbers are facing in the right direction, and are written in correct form.  They also have learned some new Halloween songs about witches and jack-o-lanterns, so you can ask your child to sing you a tune or two. In Art, the boys and girls have been creating a multitude of Halloween projects. The students made fingerprint spiders and little trick-or-treaters for our bulletin boards. They did a great job. Please come in and check them out! Also, they made ghost wind socks to hang up at the kindergarten booth for the Halloween Carnival this weekend. They are very spooky!

Just a reminder: Monday, October 24 is a minimum day.

Thank you, and have a wonderful weekend!

Week of October 10-14, 2011

Even though this was a short week due to a school holiday on Monday and our Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch on Tuesday, we got a lot packed in! It was a little muddy and we got a bit of a science lesson with several weather patterns throughout the day, but that didn't deter the children from having a wonderful time at the Pumpkin Patch feeding goats, riding ponies, trains and picking out the perfect pumpkin!

LA was tied into the Halloween theme where children wrote words that begin with /g/ like ghost, /c/ like cat, /s/ like scarecrow, and /p/ like pumpkin.

In Math, we finished up the final 2 lessons in Topic 1: Sorting and Classifying. The children also took their first math "Test" to assess their understanding of the concepts and skills learned.

On Friday we got a special treat with the 7th Graders presenting Donizetti's Elixir of Love. The children were engaged and attentive listeners. We may even have a future Opera singer in our very own classroom!

Hope everyone enjoyed the lovely weather this week - we sure did with a little extra recess at the end of the day!

I have many more photos from the field trip that I will post in the classroom. I'm happy to email/print copies of photos of your child. Just let Ms. Haas know... Have a great weekend!

Week of October 3-7, 2011

The Kindergarten has been getting in the Halloween spirit this week! We finished up the alphabet and read Miss Spider's ABC by David Kirk. We then created a spider "web" (a form of graphic organizer) in which the children came up with things that they know about spiders: they lay eggs, they eat insects, they are created by God, and they have 8 legs! The children wrote the ABC's on a sentence strip, taped 8 legs onto it, and then made them into spider hats!

Also in Language Arts, we read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. We talked about how each letter makes it own sound and that letters are used together to make words. As an example, we used a very familiar word - our names! The children then made their own coconut tree and just as the alphabet falls out of the coconut tree in Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, the children spelled their names with foam letter stickers falling out of their coconut tree!

Mrs. Haas continued with a mini-apple unit and the children went apple-picking! They had baskets filled with red, green, and golden (paper) apples, each with a letter of the alphabet on it. They picked their apples from the basket, said the letter, it's sound, and named something that begins with that letter. They then drew the picture and either wrote the letter or if they were feeling challenged, wrote the word in their Apple Workbook.

In math, the children continued the concept of sorting and classifying objects by attributes and objects that do not belong. They had a great time exploring with the pattern blocks!

Don't forget Monday is a Holiday and our Pumpkin Patch Field Trip is on Tuesday, October 11th. Remember to pack a paper bag lunch and wear clothes that can get dirty!

Have a great long weekend!

Week of September 26 to September 30

Happy October! The kindergarteners have had a very busy week. We had our annual Pirate Day this past Monday, and it went off without a hitch! The students looked very authentic in their pirate gear. Olive the storyteller also visited, and told us some wonderful stories.  On Thursday, we met with our sixth grade reading buddies. The sixth graders took some time to "interview" the kindergarteners, and learn about their young buddies. The students really enjoyed getting to know each other.

In Language Arts, we covered the letters T, U, V, and W. The boys and girls had a fun time creating paper bowl turtles, and their "V" flower vases.  The students are coming up with some great words to coincide with our Letter of the Day. They are always so excited to participate!

In Math, the students tried their luck "rolling the dice". They recorded each roll on a graph to see which number they rolled the most. The kindergarteners were very enthusiastic when they had a number that finally reached the top of the graph! The students were also introduced to the concept of sorting, which will continue into next week.

We worked on an art project on Friday where the students created an apple tree with their handprints. The kindergarteners giggled as we painted their hands green for the leaves!

Ms. Haas and I wanted to thank all of the parents that helped donate prizes for our weekly Friday raffle. We really appreciate it, and the children are so excited to be a part of it.

Reminder: The kindergarten field trip to the pumpkin patch is on Tuesday, October 11. We have no school the day before (Monday, October 10) due to Columbus Day. So, the field trip will be on the first school day of that week. We thank you for your efficiency in returning the permission slips. It will be a really exciting day!!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Week of September 19 to September 23

The month of September is flying by! We have been very busy in kindergarten this week. In Language Arts, we are continuing with our letters and letter sounds. Students are working their way through the alphabet, and we covered letters O, P, Q, R, and S. Students really enjoyed creating their very own paper pizzas with all of their favorite toppings for letter P. They also tried out their rhyming skills with letter R, and word building skills with letter S. On Thursday, the students listened to The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs read by Miss Beach, our sixth grade teacher. Soon, we will be meeting our sixth grade reading buddies!

In Math, the kindergarteners have been practicing writing their numbers and counting. The students utilized the white boards this week by counting shapes on the main board, and writing the number on their white boards. We also have been singing a number song to help them remember how to correctly write numbers one through ten. On Friday, we started the concept of more and less. Students practiced by coloring shape sets with "more" items. The kindergarteners have been working very hard on their math concepts!

Monday, September 26 is Pirate Day. Students may wear sea faring items such as hats, eye patches, and other "piratey" accessories. Students also have been learning a pirate song to sing on Monday. The students had fun creating our class Pirate Flag with the "Jolly Roger" made of red, black, and white beans. We will have it hanging outside our classroom door on Monday, so please check it out! ARRRRR MATEYS!

Just a reminder: We do not provide snack in the classroom. So, please remember to pack your child a healthy snack each day. Thank you!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Week of September 12-16, 2011

This week we continued to focus on numbers 1-10. The kids had a great time playing Number Bingo on Monday. Tuesday, we read 10 Apples Up On Top  by Dr. Seuss and cut out as many apples that we could balance on the top of our (drawn) head! Wednesday we reread The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn, traced both of our hands with a little help from our friends, counted and glued hearts to our fingers, and wrote the numbers 1-10 on the hearts. Thursday, Mrs. Kennedy and I were at a Professional Development Writing class, but the children colored a sea life picture that will be turned into a puzzle - look out for it coming home in the next week or so. Throughout the whole week we've also been focusing on Birthdays with our first poem of the week  - The Birthday Cake. Ask your child to recite it to you! We celebrated 2 birthdays this week (Rachel and Jacob) and on Friday we graphed our birthdays according to the month and discussed which month had the most birthdays, as well as which month had the least birthdays.

We started our "Star Fish of the Week" this week with Alain who did a great job leading the entire class in the morning routine each day (Days of the Week, Calendar, Number of Days in School, Weather, Poem of the Week, ABC Song). Students were also assigned "Jobs" for the week. Parents, ask you child if they had a job this week and what their job was. We will choose a new Star Fish of the Week and assign new jobs every Monday.

Blankets were sent home on Friday to be washed. Also, if your child brought a pillow to school, please leave this at home. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me or Mrs. Kennedy.

Have a great weekend!

What We've Been Up To!

Hope everyone had a relaxing long weekend. We've been busy in the Kindergarten classroom and settling into our weekly schedule - we started Dance, PE, Spanish, and Music this week. We've been practicing our alphabet (letters, sounds and writing) and numbers 1-10. Last week we read Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes and graphed how many letters we have in our name. We've also read Elmer by David McKee (on letter "E" day) and made patchwork Elephants as well as Paper Plate Fish (on "F") day - be sure to pop your head into the classroom and check out your child's artwork! September Homework Calendars have been sent home so check your child's backpack if you haven't seen it yet. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Thank you so much for all of the classroom supplies - they are much appreciated. Also, it was a wonderful turnout for Back-to-School Night. It was so nice to see/meet everyone. We're finally matching up parents faces with children which makes for a smoother pick-up! Thanks for your patience!

Be sure to check out our blog weekly for updates and upcoming events.

Don't forget, September 16th is Picture Day!